Unicorn Leaders

Shawn MacDonell shares his unconventional story of saying yes to experiences from sports coaching, to facilitating tools for teaching in Columbia, to branding strategy, to professional coaching, to founding a creative agency.

He speaks to how all of these offered him the experience of not being afraid of conflict and instead reframing it to curiosity and exploration. To understand why people make certain decisions and encourage them to learn to ask the same questions.

In episode 8 he shares with us how to reframe conflict from being a dirty word, the importance of believing in yourself to try new things, how illusive giving good feedback actually is through our communication pitfalls, and more.

Tune in to hear some truth bombs from the ultimate holder of the mirror and reflect along on your own beliefs and whether your current actions and practices are holding you back.

What does leadership mean to you?

Ex-Shopify Chief Talent Officer Brittany Forsyth, used to think it was the same thing as management. 

Over the years and various leadership roles she realized it means creating a following and driving that following towards a common shared goal. 

In episode 7 she gives us insight into how she recognized her natural leadership tendencies and how they helped her land different roles - from managing a bar to becoming a C suite executive. She also shares the tricks she learned first hand to manage a team and create the best dynamic possible.

She made lots of mistakes along her leadership journey and doesn’t shy away from sharing what they were and how to eliminate them. 

Her main piece of advice: figure out what’s in your leadership toolbox and constantly add things to it throughout your leadership journey.

Tune in to hear all about how Brittany’s leadership experiences and advice can help you improve your leadership style!

“If you are building a talent strategy that’s based on a sample you saw online or a great book you read, you will not match what your business needs and so I think whenever I’m doing any kind of talent strategy or when I was consulting I was always asking people “what’re your business goals” and it was shocking to me where I would look then at the talent strategy and I couldn’t see the business connect.  I couldn’t see the EVP (the employee value proposition) connect. And I’m like that’s why you’re struggling,  because your programs probably aren’t resonating with people and you’re spending money where you shouldn’t be spending money.”

Have you ever asked yourself “what would have to be true for my company to get to 10 million, 25 million, 50 million, or even 100 million”?

The people on your team are a huge factor.

Amanda Gordon is currently the Vice President People at Rewind, a company with a mission to help businesses protect their SaaS and cloud data. 

In this episode Amanda talks about all things human resources and building a star team of employees starting with three key questions: why did they join, why did they stay, why did they leave?

She also discusses the keys to building a successful talent strategy for your business and being honest with candidates during the interview process.

Lastly, she shares why she advocates for people to take steps before they think they’re ready and why working for small companies isn’t a step backwards in your career journey. 

Tune in to hear all about how Amanda’s leadership experiences and advice can help you improve your leadership style!

Have you ever been in a position where you didn’t feel proud of what you were doing in your career? Has your chosen field ever caused you emotional distress?

Sam Witherspoon is the founder and CEO of IMRSV Data Labs, a company dedicated to increasing the safety and security of Canada and its allies through the effective, transparent use of data.

In episode #5, Sam talks about how important it is to not chase money for the sake of making money and staying true to yourself and your vision. 

He also discusses how the key to a good team is the relationships you make with those around you and how every company working with clients is at the client’s mercy to some extent.

Lastly, Sam shares the biggest mistake he’s made and how “type two fun” is key to entrepreneurship.  

Tune in to hear all about how Sam’s leadership experiences and advice can help you improve your leadership style!

We often have the preconceived notion that leaders have to treat everyone the same in order to be fair. However in truth, managers need to respect everyone’s individual needs and motivators.

On episode #4, Cassy Aite, the co-founder and CEO of Hoppier, shares how different values, environments and involvement can influence your employees’ motivation in the workplace. 

Cassy also discusses the importance of being genuine with your employees and how recognizing an achievement can backfire if you’re not careful.

Lastly, we dive into why he chooses to be transparent with his team and rallies everyone together to be on the same page.

Tune in to hear all about how Cassy’s leadership experiences and advice can help you improve your leadership style!

Did you know that 70% of employee retention is based on their manager and no other factor? People don’t leave jobs, they leave managers.

Aydin Mirzaee  is the co-founder and CEO of Fellow.app, a meeting productivity platform that helps organizations have fewer, better meetings.

In this episode Aydin talks about how managers can influence team performance and shares his thoughts on why he thinks getting advice can be dangerous.

‍He also discusses statistics and studies that help explain why it’s necessary for you to incorporate missions, values and self-reflection in your management journey to improve your team or greater workplace dynamic. 

‍Tune in to hear all about how Aydin’s leadership experiences and advice can help you improve your leadership style!

When you’re busy fighting for survival is there any room for growth?

‍When any failure means disaster, the stakes are too high for you to take risks — this means you’ll always choose the safe route.‍

Craig Handy leads a Global Revenue Operations team at Shopify, a fast growing startup, and he is also the founder of Jameson Strategies, his own RevOps consulting firm. He’s most passionate about how we can use psychology and human performance to dig deep and create team environments where high performers can thrive.

On episode #2, Craig shares why, as a manager, it’s so important to create an environment where there’s psychological safety and strategies to help you create this beneficial environment in your workplace.

We’ll also dive into the connection between psychological safety and trust and how it’s actually beneficial for different kinds of people to have different leadership styles instead of forcing people to fit in this one-size-fits-all leadership mold.

Tune in to hear all about how Craig’s leadership experiences and advice can help you improve your leadership style!

“We ultimately believe that it’s our role as leaders, as coaches, to find out what about that individual is going to make them fulfilled and be able to achieve their best outcomes in both work and in life and in order to do that you have to be radically committed to that employee.”

- Michael Johnson

Do managers always have a negative reaction when a cherished employee decides to leave their team or even their company?

Why is it such a new idea that a leader should champion for what the individual employee wants first? 

Michael Johnson is the president & CEO of Multiview Financials, a comprehensive financial and accounting software company. Michael started his career as a corporate accountant in the investment industry as an asset manager at AGF Management & Brookfield Renewable Energy Group before becoming CFO at Multiview. 

In this episode Michael talks about how radical commitment to people is the foundation of a good leader and leaders need to take the wants of employees more seriously. 

He also goes into detail about “boomerang employees” and how with the right company environment, your workplace may start seeing this phenomenon for itself.

Lastly, he discusses the importance of conflict on a team, why you should fire half your team if they’re all “yes people” and some wisdom Jean Chrétien, the 20th Prime Minister of Canada shared with him.

Tune in to hear all about how Michael’s leadership experiences and advice can help you improve your leadership style!

Fahd is a consultant, coach, leadership speaker, and millennial workplace expert who teaches new managers how to lead multi-generational teams. He specializes in transformative leadership and team dynamics training for high-growth startups.

He created this podcast to take a deep dive into the world of building a billion-dollar company (a unicorn) in every episode. 

Join us while we explore the leadership and environments that create unicorn startups straight from those with first-hand experience (startup founders, VPs of talent, and more).